Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1887-03-10
THE GREAT SPHINX.
INTERESTING ACCOUNT OF THE
WORK OF pIsINTERMENT.

WOhh Ut OlOllN GniuGNts
The Sand Carried Away I'm Large Bas-
Observation-Disclosures Results from Appar-
entity Inadequate demonstrations E1-
vations-Restorations of Roman Date
The last occasion on which the Great SPHINX
vas cleared down to the level on which the
paws rest was in honor Of the opening OF tne
Suez canal in 1869. The ever drifting sands
had, however, reburied it almost to the throat
when Professor Maspero, during his last year
of Office at Boulak, began again the "ork Oh
disinteru,ent. This work has now been gong
on, somewhat intermittently, Tor more tnan
twelve months, and il at the present time In
active progress under the direction OF ITO
fss.or Masperos successor, N Grebaut
tr.mway has been laid down from the Sphynx
TO the edge of the Pyramid plateau, passing
close under the west face Of the granite build
ing popularity, though incorrectly, called the
tample of the Sphynx. Along this tramway
light trucks convey the sand to the point at
which their contents are discharged, the
trucks being loaded by Arabs of both sexes
and all ages, who carry the sand upon tner
heads in largo fiat baskets, ascending and de-
6c6QQlQR all 0h1 NOHk AAOA1 e-O
below to the tramway above and vice versa
ASTONISHING RESULTS
The means look curiously inadequate, but
the results are astonishing. Already the en-
tire fore part Of the great stone monster Is
laid bare, and the huge chest, the paws, the
space between the paws, the altar In front OF
them, and the platform upon which they
rest, are once more open to the light OF day
Nor is this all. Between the Sphinx and the
edge Of the Pyramid plateau vast space has
also been cleared, thus bringing to view Q fine
flight Of steps some 40 feet in width These
steps, which are described by Pliny, were un-
covered by Caviglia in 1917, but have been
entirely loA 10 sight for nearly seventy years.
A second fight Of steps and the remains OF
two Roman buildings were also found by
Caviglia, and will again be brought to light
nM. Grebaut continues to work in this d1rec-
ton.
To the right Of the Sphinx-that is to say,
in the direction of the granite temple, to the
southwark, Q further excavation is In pro-
gress, the result ef which viii probably con-
firm the surmtses Of those who believe the
Sphinx to stand m the midst Of a huge arti-
fetal amphitheatrs hsvn out OF the solld
rock. This gigantic work would Of course be
contemporaneous with the Sphinx itself,
which Marietts attributed to the mythic
ages before the advent of Mena, the first king
of the first dynasty, and which Maspero con-
siders to be, if not actually prehistoric, at oil
events the Oldest monument in Egypt
From the level of the area below the great
fight Of steps (which lead down, and not
up, to the Sphinx one now measures the
whole height of the huge human-headed
monster. whose battered countenance stands
out against the cloudless sky 100 feet above.
BETWEEN THE PAWS.
The SPACE between the paws is thirty-6ts
feet long and ten feet wide. This space vas
ancieutly converted into small sanctuary
lined with votive tablets, only one of which
the famous stella of Thothmes IV-yet re-
mains in stu. The stella records how the
king, when upon one Of his hunting expedi-
tions, lay down to rest at midday In the
shadow of the Sphinx He there fell asleep,
and dreamed q dream in which the venerable
image conjured him to clear away the sand IN
which it was nearly buried Then the prince
awoke and s'made silence in his heart" and
vowed to do that which the god had COM
manded
The paws of the sphinx, as they now appear,
are q restoration of Roman date, being cased
IN comparatively small slabs, and to some ex-
tent hollow underneath The breast Of the
sphinx has likewise been faced with slabs, ap-
parently in Roman times; and these slabs
have again been repaired by cutting away the
weathered surface and inserting fresh fac
ing. Like the legs OF the Colossi of the Plain,
and those of the great statue of Aboo Simbel,
the paws of the sphinx are covered with the
Greek scrawls Of early travellers; but these
graffi-ti are mostly of late period and 50
slightly scratched that few are 1eg1bfe
throughout Such as they are, however,
Professor Maspero has, it is understood, de-
voted himself to the ungrateful and difficult
task of translating them.
NJ. Grebaut's excavations are not limited to
the clearance of the sphinx only. Various
interesting tombs have lately been discovered
IN the vicinity Of the great pyramid, and to
the westward the face of the Libyan cliff has
been reached where it forms the natural
boundary of the Pyramid plateau. Some
good early rockcut tombs, with built fore
courts, have been found in the face Of this
cliff, in two of which the walled up recesses
or secret chambers, called "serdabs.n which
were constructed for the safe keeping Of
Itinerary portrait statues, are yet intact with
their contents-London Times.